Livestock Marketing Protections Largely Left to Trump Administration to Decide

The visceral political fights over livestock marketing rules will carry into the Trump administration as reaction to USDA's release of three rules ranged from all-out praise from some farm groups to condemnations of political retribution by other groups. The livestock marketing rules under the USDA Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, or GIPSA, are in different stages of the process. They date back to language in the 2008 farm bill, and the rules have been controversial throughout the Obama administration. Early proposals from USDA drew fire from major industry groups and Congress. The rules were then blocked by Congress refusing to fund any efforts to advance the rules. Finally, Congress relented in the fiscal year 2016 funding bill and USDA immediately advanced the rules again.The three rules, dubbed as the "Farmer Fair Practices Rules," were late, coming just 37 days before the inauguration. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Congress gave conflicting signals about the rules for years, leading to the late push this year by the administration to compete them. Vilsack said the rules help ensure a "fair, just, a non-discriminatory and non-deceptive system" for marketing livestock and poultry.